This invention relates to a dispenser for a safety throw rope which would normally be used in situations where a person in distress may need assistance, for example, to be towed out of the water to the safety of a watercraft or shoreline.
Throw bags for containing a length of rescue rope to be thrown to persons in distress are known. An example of such a bag is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,882. It will be seen that the throw bag includes a weight so that the bag can be thrown more accurately towards the victim. Conveniently, the bag has a handle portion which the victim can grasp. One of the problems experienced with such throw bags is that the weight of the bag may cause it to sink in water rescue situations. The water rescue device described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,815 includes a buoyant housing for storing a length of line which may be payed out during an emergency. The housing includes a battery powered light which is activated by pulling on the end of the life line affixed to the housing.
Buoyant devices such as a life ring of the kind shown in D246,542 and which provide integral handles for the victim to hang on to are also known. One of the problems associated with such life saving rings is the difficulty in storing a sufficient length of a throw rope to make the ring useful. One manner of addressing the problem is to include on the life ring or flotation disc a peripheral groove for storing the life line. Such a device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,651. A problem which arises with using such a device is that the thrower must have a significant amount of skill to accurately throw the device to the intended location while the life line is unwound during rotation of the floatation disc.
A need therefore exists to provide a safety device for use in particular in a water rescue environment which is buoyant and which can easily be thrown to the intended location with sufficient rope to be effective.
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a dispenser for a safety throw rope which has a rigid hollow body that defines a cavity for receiving a length of rope. The body has a bung hole at one end through which the length of rope may be payed out. The body also has a looped hollow handle portion at another end spaced from the bung hole. The rope is coupled to a closure assembly for the bung hole at one end and to the handle portion inside the cavity at another end. When the closure assembly is separated from the body, the body may be thrown and the rope is payed out of the bung hole.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the rope is looped around the handle portion inside the cavity. Most preferably, the body has a rope locator dimensioned to be received through the opening of the body and defining two spaced passages for receiving the rope therethrough. The rope is threaded through a first passage, around the handle portion inside the cavity and through a second passage in the rope locator.